Union Place Signs MOU with Marston Investment Management to Establish 'Co-living' REIT

[(From left) Lee Sujeong, CEO of Maston Property; Lee Jangho, CEO of Union Place; Kim Daehyung, CEO of Maston Investment Management; Jo Yongmin, Deputy Head of REITs Division at Maston Investment Management (Photo by Maston Investment Management Brand Strategy Team)]

Urban culture company Union Place has formed a strategic partnership with Marsten Investment Management to establish a co-living REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and expand its co-living business.

Union Place (CEO Jangho Lee) announced that on the 16th, it signed a comprehensive business cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering joint implementation, participation, and operation of the co-living business with Marsten Investment Management (CEOs Daehyung Kim, Jongmin Kim, Sangdo Lee, Seonghyuk Hong) and Marsten Property (CEO Sujeong Lee) at the complex cultural space 'Union Town Hannam' located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The actual MOU signing ceremony was attended by Union Place CEO Jangho Lee, Marsten Investment Management CEO Daehyung Kim, Deputy CEO of the REITs division Yongmin Cho, and Marsten Property CEO Sujeong Lee, among others.

Co-living has recently emerged as a new housing style among people in their 20s and 30s living in urban areas, due to the increasing proportion of single-person households and rising demand for monthly rentals. Its most distinctive feature is the combination of private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms with shared facilities like kitchens, lounges, and laundry rooms.

[Complex Shared Space Union Town Hannam (Photo provided by Union Place)]

Responding swiftly to the enforcement of the Building Act aimed at revitalizing shared housing, Union Place aims to become an industry leader by expanding its residential real estate development and operation business. Based on its expertise in developing and operating Union Town, a complex cultural space that includes residential, office, and retail brands in Seoul’s station areas such as Dangsan, Gangnam, Hannam, Seonyu, and Seocho, Union Place will be responsible for the operation and management of co-living facilities.

Additionally, Union Place CEO Jangho Lee stated, "To complete a sustainable business value chain of procurement, development, operation, and securitization, we are also exploring entry into the Security Token Offering (STO) market recently announced by the Financial Services Commission." He added, "We plan to actively utilize the spatial solution capabilities and user database accumulated through the development and operation of Union Town, as well as our proprietary proptech platform, to enter the STO market."

Union Place plans to establish a cycle between real estate asset discovery, space content operation, and digital data acquisition for profit maximization, and will continue its data-driven platform business strategy in the future.